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Metro Vancouver transit bus operators have voted to reject a tentative deal their union had reached with the Coast Mountain Bus Company.
Unifor Locals 111 and 2200 say in a statement that members are “not rushing to job action” after the rejection and the unions will work on the changes their members want to see in the tentative agreement.
Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor’s western regional director, says it is working directly with members, negotiators and the employer in an effort to “win the changes” that bus operators want.
The voting results have not been released.
The two sides had announced on June 22 that a tentative deal has been reached to avoid a possible strike involving member workers of Coast Mountain, which operates more than 96 per cent of Metro Vancouver’s bus services.
The workers had voted 99 per cent in favour of authorizing strike action in May after months of bargaining.
“Members delivered a strong strike mandate earlier this round, and that mandate remains in place,” McGarrigle says in a statement.
Gavin McGarrigle of Unifor says the strike mandate is still in effect. (Ben Nelms/CBC)